Help logging back into my Xbox gamertag

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Reading HQ finally called me. Not budging without a console ID and no other information I submit will change that.

 

Guy is going to ask around the office if they will at least switch the GT names for me, although no promises. Seriously doubt it considering head office are sticking to the console ID is needed.

[Danielx64]

While I didn't post at all, it will be interesting to see how this ends up in the end.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

12 minutes ago, Danielx64 said:

While I didn't post at all, it will be interesting to see how this ends up in the end.

Going all public with it can be a double edged sword. MS obviously want to stick by protocol no matter what (I could submit a blood DNA test and they'd say no), as if me causing a ruckus gets my way then others can say "but you helped that guy!". I seriously doubt many people end up in a mess like this though.

 

One thing I'm proud about though is with the help from a friend I managed to give them an IP address from 2008/2009  Shame I couldn't get the console ID any other way than from the console.

 

Just hoping the Reading Office have enough sympathy just to switch the GT IDs... Otherwise this XB1 will be collecting dust until they decide to release my GT. Might as well saved for a Scorpio :P

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

No joy, game over for me....

 

Quote

Dear ,

It’s from the Microsoft Corporate Office Reading, I am emailing you to follow up on our call from earlier today. 

I have spoken with my colleagues and have confirmed the only available course of action regarding retaining your Microsoft account and gamertag in the future is to submit a new ACSR to attempt to regain entry.

Unfortunately, Gamertags only return to the public domain when the attached Microsoft account is deleted, as such the Gamertag will remain bound to the account until such time as it is deleted.

I appreciate this may not be the answer you were hoping for however I have confidence you appreciate this is in the nature of security of accounts as opposed to a punishment against them. 

As mentioned in call, should you pursue another ACSR, attempt to submit only information that was attached at the time of creation of the account or from the last time you saved and updated settings on your account, entering current/updated information may not strictly reflect settings initially entered as per your example of card expiry dates.

At this time, I will be closing this Service Request, as it appears that there is no further action available. You will receive a survey that will be reflective of your experience with me. My goal is for you to be completely satisfied with my service.

If this is not the case, please allow me a chance to address your concerns more thoroughly before leaving feedback. A response to this email will place you back in direct contact with me.

Thank you very much for your time.

Sincerely, 

Escalation Analyst

 

[Depicus]

32 minutes ago, Audioboxer said:

No joy, game over for me....

Whatever happened to the customer being right. I swore I'd never buy another Xbox after my 5th 360 red ringed and was told it was outside warranty which ran from when I purchased the first 360. 

 

 

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

8 minutes ago, Depicus said:

Whatever happened to the customer being right. I swore I'd never buy another Xbox after my 5th 360 red ringed and was told it was outside warranty which ran from when I purchased the first 360. 

 

 

The customer isn't always right. In some cases the customer is right though

[+InsaneNutter MVC]

57 minutes ago, Audioboxer said:

No joy, game over for me....

 

 

This is probably a long shot, however do you have any save games from when you had that console, which haven't been touched since you had that console?

 

If so you could probably get the Console ID from an old save game. Tools such as Xbox 360 Save Editor should be able to read the Console ID, Device ID and Profile ID from the save game.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

This is going back about 7 years ago now so things may have changed...
I forgot my password for the DirtyLarry gamertag which was originally mine. I had not logged into it for a few years. The email address I used when I signed up for it was one of my old bands websites and we had since stopped paying for the website and no longer owned the URL, so any Forgot Password attempts just did not work as the email no longer existed.

I called CS, got them on the phone, was able to provide all the correct information, address, actual name, etc. All they needed was the credit card on file and they could transfer the GamerTag back to me.

I no longer had the credit card on file, this was before I did any online banking, etc., and that card was no longer active as I had lost my wallet so cancelled all cards as one is supposed to do. So I was out of luck.

Always drove me nuts. All I wanted was my original GamerTag back.

 

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

59 minutes ago, InsaneNutter said:

This is probably a long shot, however do you have any save games from when you had that console, which haven't been touched since you had that console?

 

If so you could probably get the Console ID from an old save game. Tools such as Xbox 360 Save Editor should be able to read the Console ID, Device ID and Profile ID from the save game.

Nah, the old hard drive was tossed as well.

 

54 minutes ago, DirtyLarry said:

This is going back about 7 years ago now so things may have changed...
I forgot my password for the DirtyLarry gamertag which was originally mine. I had not logged into it for a few years. The email address I used when I signed up for it was one of my old bands websites and we had since stopped paying for the website and no longer owned the URL, so any Forgot Password attempts just did not work as the email no longer existed.

I called CS, got them on the phone, was able to provide all the correct information, address, actual name, etc. All they needed was the credit card on file and they could transfer the GamerTag back to me.

I no longer had the credit card on file, this was before I did any online banking, etc., and that card was no longer active as I had lost my wallet so cancelled all cards as one is supposed to do. So I was out of luck.

Always drove me nuts. All I wanted was my original GamerTag back.

 

Yeah I provided them with the card, bank account details and also an itemised list of every single Xbox charge on my bank statements. They took it all but still demanded the console ID.

 

In America I think you can essentially sue lol, going here and paying for what seems to be legal fees of some sorts ~ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=245497 I've asked the guy I spoke to today if there is a UK equivalent. Think it might be the ICO https://ico.org.uk/concerns/getting/

 

Essentially I think because MS hold this information about me, won't allow me access and some of it is out of date now I might be able to request they delete the account under DPA law. If so... it frees up the GT. What a colossally complicated scenario just to get a GT back though! I'm not one for giving up though, and had to fight about this hard to get HTC to fix a phone, and vowed to never buy from them again (haven't) and also Virgin Mobile to fix a phone (they never did, Samsung had to). So no more VM from me ever again either once this contract expires.

 

Thanks anyway Larry.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Just contacted Trading Standards for advice. Need to have an expert let me know where I stand with the DPA and being denied access to an account that holds personal information about me. Thankfully consumer legal advice is free in the UK, you only potentially have to pay if you go to court.

 

As I've been helped by TS before I'll go there before trying to contact the ICO for the first time.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Response from CA

 

Quote

Dear Mr 

Thank you for your enquiry to the Citizens Advice consumer service. Your reference number for this enquiry is 

We understand from your email that you have been trying to recover an email account with an email provider that relates to a gaming account however they cannot release any details as they state you cannot prove ownership of the account. 

Your next steps

As you have already submitted a formal complaint to the trader, we would suggest that you check to see if this company is a member of an alternative dispute resolution scheme (ADR) if you would like to proceed with a complaint about the provider. To find out if the trader is a member or not, we would advise to check their website or alternatively ask them directly.

The ADR scheme can be used to try and negotiate or mediate between yourself and the trader in order to reach an acceptable outcome. The trader does not have to be a member of the scheme and even if they are there is no obligation for the trader to use their scheme in every dispute. 

To find out more about the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and whether you they are able to handle complaints, we would suggest contacting them on 0303 123 1113 or via their website - click here for further information. The ICO is the independent supervisory authority that promotes public access to information and ensures the protection of personal information when it is held by businesses or organisations. It oversees and enforces the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000

What we will do

We will notify Trading Standards about this issue. Whilst this doesn’t help you resolve your problem, it gives Trading Standards vital intelligence about how the trader operates their business.

If you would like to discuss this further please call us on 03454 04 05 06 or reply to this email.

We also have a brief survey for you to rate your experience with our service and any feedback would be appreciated - Help us improve how we offer email advice

Kind regards

Citizens Advice consumer service

 

[MikeChipshop Member]

Keep fighting the good fight mate!

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

1 hour ago, MikeChipshop said:

Keep fighting the good fight mate!

After having really ugly fights with HTC and Virgin Mobile I've learned these fights are usually long slogs. It's always baffling the amount of resources and time some companies waste over individual cases that would be easy to sort and offer them goodwill in an instant. 

 

Either way you have to be a persistent and noisy customer at times or you'll simply be ignored. Never any need to get nasty though, even when you feel like tearing your hair out. 

[dipsylalapo Supervisor]

Can we turn this into a short film after? I feel that it deserves that at least! Even when this doesn't appear on my mini-spy I go hunting!

 

But it seems like Trading Standards aren't actually able to do anything or did I misread the letter?

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

6 minutes ago, dipsylalapo said:

Can we turn this into a short film after? I feel that it deserves that at least! Even when this doesn't appear on my mini-spy I go hunting!

 

But it seems like Trading Standards aren't actually able to do anything or did I misread the letter?

Citizens Advice pass the case on to Trading Standards if they see it as fit to be recorded. 

 

Trading Standards can then get in contact with you if they want, but usually they just record complaints. Action taken by them is on their own accord usually, if they have evidence to fine a company or take legal action. 

 

When I went through this with Virgin Mobile it got attention, I had to meet with citizens advice in person, CISAS got involved and it almost went to a small claims court. Samsung saved me that bother though sorting  things even when it should have been Virgin Mobile. For them all they got was having to pay CISAS fees on my behalf, and a customer who will never ever return to them. Still a win for me though as my phone eventually got repaired and I cost them money and time. 

[MikeChipshop Member]

Just now, Audioboxer said:

After having really ugly fights with HTC and Virgin Mobile I've learned these fights are usually long slogs. It's always baffling at the amount of resources and time some companies waste over individual cases that would be easy to sort and offer them goodwill in an instant. 

That's uncanny, i've had long fights with both of those companies too. HTC was because of an old "Sensation" that refused to work OTB. After 6 months i managed to get them to replace it and refund the previous months charges. Virgin was worse though. My folks sold their house, cancelled their account with Virgin Media and moved to Spain, two years later Virgin were still sending letters to them (despite my folks having the cancellation letter and being disconnected), the people who bought the house of them let it out and the tenants opened these letters and somehow managed to phone Virgin and have the services re-activated and charge the monthly costs to my parents now defunct UK bank account.

 

After 10 years my parents moved back to the UK just to find 8 years worth of Virgin Media charges on a bank account that was by all intents and purposes, empty, and a nice fat debt collection letter. This was a fight i took up for them and wasn't going to let VM get away with. It took 18 months but eventually all costs were paid back, compensation was paid out and VM changed the way they checked customer details. Still never got an apology though.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

16 minutes ago, MikeChipshop said:

That's uncanny, i've had long fights with both of those companies too. HTC was because of an old "Sensation" that refused to work OTB. After 6 months i managed to get them to replace it and refund the previous months charges. Virgin was worse though. My folks sold their house, cancelled their account with Virgin Media and moved to Spain, two years later Virgin were still sending letters to them (despite my folks having the cancellation letter and being disconnected), the people who bought the house of them let it out and the tenants opened these letters and somehow managed to phone Virgin and have the services re-activated and charge the monthly costs to my parents now defunct UK bank account.

 

After 10 years my parents moved back to the UK just to find 8 years worth of Virgin Media charges on a bank account that was by all intents and purposes, empty, and a nice fat debt collection letter. This was a fight i took up for them and wasn't going to let VM get away with. It took 18 months but eventually all costs were paid back, compensation was paid out and VM changed the way they checked customer details. Still never got an apology though.

Damn that is painful. Sucks they are the only real fibre provider in the UK just now as your family should really never be touching them again. 

 

My HTC One X case was an absolute disaster. Long story short I won in the end and have stuck to my principles and never had an HTC device since and never will again. 

 

I've got far more responsibility and blame in this MS case though, where as with the phone companies I was innocent of any wrong doing. Still MS are handling this terribly considering I have proven who I am and they refuse to budge behind corporate red tape. When you go to Reading HQ and they are still saying a console ID is more concrete proof of identity that is a bit of a facepalm.  

 

edit: lol, my HTC One X case is still documented here - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1695590 (this and the Virgin complaint have the common issue of both companies trying to charge me silly money for faults warranty should cover)

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

I forgot to actually post the follow up I got from Reading HQ after I replied saying I was disappointed and wanted to know about the UK equivalent to the American Arbitration Association (asked if it would be Trading Standards for MS UK).

 

Quote

 

Good morning ,

 

Thank you for your email and professional demeanour throughout this escalation. 

With regards to your query for alternative means of pursuing this dispute, reaching out to trading standards may or may not directly help, however I would hope if not correct they could put you on the right path, to that end I would also consider your local citizen’s advice bureau for further assistance and guidance.

 

Thank you very much for your time.

Sincerely,

 

              

Escalation Analyst        

 

At least they were like sure go ahead and try these options  So I did!

[MikeChipshop Member]

33 minutes ago, Audioboxer said:

Damn that is painful. Sucks they are the only real fibre provider in the UK just now as your family should really never be touching them again. 

They live VERY rural now in a glen not far from Callander, they can't even get any form of BT internet there, so i'm pretty sure they'll never have the injustice of having to deal with VM ever again

[Cnónna]

you could always do a rangers, and set up a new gamer tag, the Audioboxer, then we can all call you the the Audioboxer

 

you not got any old windows machines sitting around that you may have logged into games with windows live with? maybe it has the password saved on there somewhere.

 

 

 

 

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

I compiled my case and evidence and sent it to the ICO today

 

Quote

Thank you for contacting the Information Commissioner’s Office. We confirm that we have received your correspondence.

 

We don’t monitor this email address, so please don’t respond directly to this email.

 

If you have raised a new information rights concern - we aim to send you an initial response and case reference number within 30 days. Please note that if you are concerned about the way an organisation is handling your personal information, we will not usually look into it unless you have raised it with the organisation first. For more information please see our webpage ‘raising a concern with an organisation’.

 

If you have requested advice - we aim to respond within 14 days.

 

If you have reported receiving spam email – we will use the information you have provided to identify, investigate and take action against organisations that are not following the rules around direct marketing. We don’t respond to such concerns individually, so please note that we’re unlikely to contact you about this matter again, unless we need any further information to help with our investigations.

 

If you have made a request for information held by the ICO - we will contact you if we need any further information to help us answer your request. If we don't need any further information we will respond to you within our published, and statutory, service levels. For more information please visit our webpage 'access information about the ICO'.

 

If your correspondence relates to an existing case - we will add it to your case and consider it on allocation to a case officer.

 

Copied correspondence - we do not respond to correspondence that has been copied to us.

 

For more information about our services, please see our webpage ‘service standards and what to expect’ (go to our homepage and follow the links for ‘Report a concern’ and ‘Service standards and what to expect'). You can also call the number below.

 

If you have a matter you would like to discuss with us, please call our helpline on 0303 123 1113 (local rate).

 

Yours sincerely

 

The Information Commissioner’s Office

 

[Vandalsquad]

http://wccftech.com/microsoft-changes-services-agreement-xbox-now-requires-sign-every-5-years-maintain-gamertag/

 

Have to be close? 

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

It's finally ######## over. Finally.

 

 

Long story short, I basically provided American Escalation agent with same info, and bam, done. Reading HQ in the UK led me to raising an official legal complaint here - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/arbitration/EU-ODR.aspx

 

And no surprise my email inbox was empty/wiped, and therefore 50% of the questions on the account recovery form were non-applicable (yet the system still rejected me). Agent done a manual reset by asking me basically the same questions as before.

 

Typed up whole thing here - http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=211475805&postcount=160

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

Yay

[Danielx64]

So you got access to your gamertag now?